Summer Vacation Recessionista Style

Next weekend I'm mini road tripping back to Minneapolis for my summer vacay. Exotic, I know. I am really excited. I'm going to see my grandparents for a couple of days and my friend, Christine. I haven't been back to Minnesota in six months. It will be good to see my grandparents. My grandpa recently had a pacemaker put in and is doing pretty good. I am hoping to help them out. If they'll let me. They never do. They are really independent (and in their 80's) and about the only person they let do anything for them is my dad. My dad doesn 't mess around and for some reason, they really listen to him (more than I do). Christine and I are planning on going to one of my favorite places in Minneapolis, Elsie's. They have the best waffle fries ever and bowling. The perfect combo. I am hoping to go to the Unique Thrift store in NE, too. It is my favorite thrift store. They have them in Chicago, too, But, in Minnesota there's no tax on clothes! Woo-hoo. I am really hoping to avoid going to the Mall of America, aka the Black Hole of Death. It sucks the life out of me.

I feel like I am ready for another vacation. I know I just had a mini one for my birthday, but I am having a hard time dealing with tourists from Iowa and whiny children with American Girl dolls at work. I know, I know. I am a seasoned retail veteran and should be immune to stupid customers. Afterall, I worked at the Mall of America for three years of a perpetual white trash fest. My new store is not as bad as MOA, but my sanity is hanging by a string. Hopefully, a long weekend will do the trick.

I am not at the same level of craziness as MOA, and I remind myself of this on a daily basis, Towards the end of my tenure at MOA, I had to sit in my car and listen to music to pump myself up to enter the mall. Thom Yorke's solo album, "The Eraser" was my CD of choice. I would roll down my windows and listen to "Black Swan" on repeat. The stares I got from the tourists, made me chuckle. Most of the people would hurry past and grab childrens' hands. What was the crazy girl doing? Some days not even the music would do the trick, then I resorted to a pep talk a la Stuart Smalley. Other days a coffee from Starbucks helped. I developed an addiction to Chili Cheese Fritos. Looking back on this, it's hilarious, but at the time it was quite painful. I was really angry. I am not even close to that level and wisely schedule more days off more frequently. It keeps my sanity in check. Minnesota, home of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, here I come!

More Vacation, Please!

I almost don't want to blog about this, cause it makes me seem like a whiny person, but I could really use another vacation. Yes, I've been back at work for a week, and I could use some more vacation. Unfortunately, the next "vacation" I have is in August for my cousin's wedding. I think this all ties into my restless nature. It's been out of control lately (well, since I came back) and I'm not sure what to do about it. At least this week won't be so bad. Thank goodness for the 4th of July and my birthday, my two saving graces.

Two Special White Trash Moments

The other day I was waiting patiently in line at Holiday to pay for my ghetto ice tea, the giant Arizona Green Tea, when I heard the most ignorant and appalling statement I have ever heard in my life. "Man, she's got it made. I needs to gets me one of those. It be so much easier to get around." The woman was talking about a wheelchair. She kept going on and on about how great this would be. Her friend kept trying to get her to quiet down, but she wouldn't. I really wanted to say something, but I was so speechless, I didn't know what to say. I just stood there, dumbfounded. The woman in the wheelchair overheard this nonsense and came over. She told the super rude woman "at least you can use your legs." The Super rude woman didn't get it. And probably never will. I really give the woman in the wheelchair credit for that. Wow.

While driving home from Milwaukee, I stopped at a Mc Donald's in the middle of no where WI for my favorite car trip treat, a cheeseburger Happy Meal. Yum. The second I entered the building, I wanted to run back to my car. There was two woman with six kids between them and the kids were out of control. Not funny ha-ha out of control, but actual, out of control. They looked like a pack of wild dogs. They were jumping up and down, crying over not getting a soda and running all over. It was a spectacle and it was about to get worse. I turned away for a second and when I glanced over, a three year old had grabbed one of the bags and was grabbing cheeseburgers out of the bag. She proceeded to unwrap one of the cheeseburgers on the floor, put the cheeseburger on the floor, and eat it. Ewww... What did mom do? She asked her, "Did you get the one with the pickles?" I was appalled. Her kid had just eaten a cheeseburger that was on the dirty Mc Donald's floor for longer than five seconds. In addition to the pickles,she probably got some Salmonella, West Nile, Hepatitis, and Ringworm from that floor. I know that we have immune systems, but I don't think they protect against the dirtiest of all floors. The mom's concern for her baby having pickles was the classic do nothing parent. If I had done that when I was little, the cheeseburger would've went in the garbage and we would've went home, where I would've been punished. Of course, I knew how to behave in public. I saved my bad behavior for home. The kicker for me, was watching the family walk to their van with one of the kids running around outside without shoes on. Ewww... So Klassy. Klassy with a K, that is.

Back From Vacation

I'm back from my trip to Milwaukee and Chicago. I have to admit it was hard to come back, I had such a good time. I am really not looking forward to going back to work this afternoon. That is going to be a rude awakening. I did have six days in a row off. Which, in my world is unheard of. Anyways, back to the fun. Here's a picture of the roses from my Dad's awesome garden.

I am always so impressed and amazed by my Dad's garden. It takes up a huge portion of his backyard. And requires so much work. The one thing about Milwaukee I will never miss is the lack of quality radio stations. It is seriously the music void of the Midwest. As I was driving into town, I was listening to New Rock 102.1 and they were playing the same stuff I recall from 12 years ago. Not exactly New Rock. More like Old Rock. I heard local Milwaukee fave, the Gufs song "Smile." It was big when I was in high school. And the Offspring. Sigh.

I took the train down to Chicago. It's so affordable. It only cost me $37 round trip. And it only takes an hour and a half. Not, only did I save gas and time, I saved my sanity. I abhor driving in Chicago. I never would've gotten there in an hour and a half. Maybe three and a half hours. My Dad had to leave me with some words of wisdom before dropping me off at the train. "Remember that Chicago isn't like Minneapolis. It's a big city like New York." Oh my gosh! Really? I thought they were the same. I am so not country. And not stupid. I proved my city-savvy by beating out a woman for a cab at the train station. She tried to talk her way into me letting her have my cab because she had been waiting there longer than I. I don't think so.

Anyways, my friend, Steve and I checked out Millennium park, which very cool. And a huge tourist draw, which you can tell by the people surrounding it. I love how modern it is. Yet, it is odd to see something like this in a city.

This is the Bean . Sort of trippy. You can walk underneath it, which is even cooler.

While in Chicago, I did a lot of shopping. The stores there are so much better than here. Even the Old Navy is better. It's bigger and had great displays. It almost didn't look like an Old Navy. Shocking, I know. The highlight, though, had to be the Marc by Marc Jacobs store in Bucktown. I heart Marc Jacobs. His store was really cool. The best part is they carry affordable gifty items that everyone can afford. I bought a rust colored wristlet for only $25. For Marc by Marc Jacobs. This makes up for the fact that I can't afford the super cute dresses that look like Marc designed them with me in mind.

Here is my wristlet, hanging out at the bar (in the safety of the bag). I have to admit that I was pretty obnoxious showing off my bag. But, it's not everyday that I buy Marc Jacobs. The other cool thing is shoes stores carry an awesome selection of sneakers. Tons and tons of unique Nikes, Pumas, and Converse. I did use my restraint and didn't buy any shoes. Woo-hoo. It was hard, though. I love fun sneakers, but really need to wear the ones I have.

All in all, it was a good vacation. I got to hang out with my friend Steve and catch up with my relatives that I haven't seen in a couple of years. The one thing I didn't do is go to Dunkin' Donuts. I saw a really big one with a Baskin Robbins in it, but I wasn't hungry for a donut. Sad, I know.